


Say that I'm in love

by Rachaelizame



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Everyone is gay and poly in space, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Polyshipping Day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 17:14:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7062043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachaelizame/pseuds/Rachaelizame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes family is something you choose.</p>
<p>Or, the Deep Space Nine polycule</p>
            </blockquote>





	Say that I'm in love

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be longer, but I wanted to get it out in time for polyshipping day. This will continue with ever more characters joining the polycule.

Miles O’Brien had never thought that he would be in a relationship with more than one person. Oh, he was fine with other people who wanted that. Poly relationships were common in many species, humanity included. It just didn’t seem like his thing.

So he paid it no mind when, one day, Keiko spoke about Julian Bashir- the young doctor who kept following him around like an excitable puppy.

“Someone’s got a crush,” she teased, gesturing to where the other man was watching them at the Replimat.

“Who? Bashir?” It wasn’ that odd a thought, not with the way the young man behaved toward him. But that was how he acted toward everyone. Miles would almost feel bad for him- the man clearly wanted friends- if not for how damned annoying it was.

“Mmhmm,” Keiko hummed, waving to Bashir, who ducked his head before waving in response.

“Nah, that’s just his way. Besides, last week you were sure he liked that Cardassian.”

“Miles, it’s possible to have a crush on more than one person.” He just shrugged in response. So what if the guy liked him? He was in a committed relationship and anyway, Julian wasn’t his type- too irritating.

 

Only, things didn’t stay that way. Time eased Bashir into something a little less aggravating to be around, and Miles learned to see how the man could actually be a good friend. He was a good man- open, friendly, and genuinely wanting to help others. One of those traits caused Miles more trouble than the others.

The Lythoscenes were one of the many species that came through the wormhole to investigate the station. Nothing had gone seriously wrong in the week they’d been there, and it seemed their visit would turn out to be an uneventful one. That is, until one of them called in a medical emergency on the Promenade.

He and Julian had been headed to Quark’s, but Julian rushed to the scene. Miles stayed back, something about the cloud of gas hanging about the injured Lythoscene making him wary. This turned out to be a good decision.

It wasn’t long before everyone who was directly exposed to the gas began showing symptoms- Julian included. The first signs simply resembled intoxication- lowered inhibitions, lower motor control- but before long people were collapsing, complaining of weakness and high fevers.

Miles escorted Julian to the med bay. Julian insisted he needed to help resolve the situation- Miles just wanted him where he could be monitored.

Halfway there Julian slid his arm through Miles’, snuggling up beside him.

“You’re such a good friend- so good.” Julian mumbled. Miles could feel the fever coming off the man.

“Okay. Let’s get you to the med bay,’’ he said, rationally knowing it was exactly what he’d said when he first insisted Julian go, but not knowing how to respond to that particular comment.

“No really,” Julian insisted, as they neared the doors, “Honestly, you’re wonderful.” Before Miles could respond, the man collapsed, becoming dead weight against him. Nurses rushed to help him lift Julian onto a bed.

The solution turned out to be ridiculously simple. The Lythoscene who had started the whole ordeal just had to expose the affected to another gaseous compound and the effects were reversed. He seemed quite embarrassed by the whole thing, but the crew assured him they’d been through worse.

Still, Miles couldn’t quite forget his experience. He ran Julian’s words over and over again through his mind, trying to bring some closure to the moment. But he couldn’t shake it. Nor could he shake the feeling of the other man pressing himself against him and then collapsing.

Ah hell. He had a crush on the man!

 

When Keiko got back to the station, Miles resolved himself to tell her. He couldn’t just let this go on without her knowing about it. He would never cheat on her, but he kept finding himself thinking about the other man, and he had to resolve this somehow.

Keiko was surprised, but not alarmed. She hadn’t realized Miles had come to reciprocate Julian’s feelings, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected either. She knew Miles felt horribly guilty about the whole thing, and she thought about what she felt on the matter. Julian certainly wasn’t a bad guy. She liked him enough, and clearly Miles felt strongly for him.

“We could always invite him along for our next date night,” she suggested.

“Are you suggesting…” Miles began, seeming not to know what he wanted to say.

“If you care about him this much, I’m certainly willing to open up our relationship- see how things go.” She spoke carefully. She wanted him to know she was doing this willingly, not out of some misguided attempt to “fix” a relationship that wasn’t broken.

Miles agreed to think about it. They discussed boundaries for a little while and came to an agreement. They’d ask Julian to join them for dinner soon, making it clear it was meant as a date. If he and Keiko got along, they could form a triad. If not, Miles was free to pursue him alone. 

Date night went even better than they’d hoped.

 

Julian Bashir had known since he was a teenager that he was open to being in a polyamorous relationship. He’d already done it once or twice, but it was never as serious as it was when he came to DS9. Practically as soon as he came on board, he’d developed a crush on half the people he met. None of them- except maybe Garak, but he was so hard to read- seemed open to reciprocating those crushes.

So he was quite surprised when Keiko and Miles asked him out to dinner. Surprised, but pleased.

Dinner starts- badly. It’s awkward. Julian hasn’t done this since Palis and Rosie and boy, had that ended poorly! And Miles and Keiko haven’t done this at all, so it’s bound to be uncharted territory. But, well, he came out here to experience change. Time to take what he asked for.

“This is- nice.” He said, wincing as the words came out. “I’m glad we’re doing this.” He continued to wince as Miles and Keiko murmured their assent. It was uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t done this since- oh, six, seven years ago?- when Palis and I started dating this girl, Rosie. She was a wonderful girl, but not a good fit for us.”

“Let me guess. She didn’t have ‘beautiful feet’?” Miles said. For some reason, this was the funniest thing Julian had heard all week. He laughed, and Keiko joined him, a beautiful sound if he’d ever heard one. Miles soon started chuckling as well.

From that moment, things eased. They settled into an easy conversation. Julian was reminded of the few dinners he’d shared with the couple before, only this time there was more flirting. Miles was still unsure how to respond to that, but Keiko was willing to play along.

The night ended with Keiko and Miles walking Julian back to his quarters. Keiko pressed a kiss to his cheek, and Julian responded in kind to both Keiko and Miles. He went to sleep that night joyous. He had two beautiful people to be with. How could things be better?


End file.
